Windows 365 Enterprise
A Cloud PC as a fixed per-user service · managed through Intune like a physical endpoint. Choose your add-ons below to see the feature set of your particular configuration.
As at September 2026
Build your Windows 365 Enterprise configuration
Choose the add-ons that belong to your Windows 365 environment. The puzzle and the module descriptions react live. Windows 365 is deliberately kept simple, so there are fewer add-on variations than with AVD.
The feature set at a glance
Which of the twelve core capabilities of a modern workplace stack does your configuration cover natively — and where are extensions needed? Each puzzle piece shows the maturity.
The twelve modules — what is in, what is missing?
Each module describes one core capability of the workplace stack. The colour shows its current status in your configuration. Select add-ons in the configurator above and you will see here which module improves and why.
Endpoint platform (outside the puzzle)
Which device do your people use to connect to the Cloud PC? Windows 365 supports the same range of endpoints as AVD — Windows, Mac, iOS, Android, ChromeOS, IGEL OS and UniconOS (formerly Unicon eLux). The architecture is cloud-first and BYOD-friendly, which matters for hybrid work.
Windows App · Microsoft (official client)
The official Microsoft client for AVD and Windows 365, replacing the old Remote Desktop client. Available for Windows, macOS, iOS/iPadOS, Android/Chrome OS, web browsers and Meta Quest. Features differ by platform: Teams optimisation through SlimCore is available on Windows and macOS, video playback on the device (multimedia redirection) only on Windows. RDP Multipath (several network paths) has been generally available for Windows 365 since August 2025 and fully rolled out since November 2025, with redundant TCP paths added in July 2026. Modern Auto-Reconnect builds on it and has been rolling out since August 2026, preserving open applications across brief network interruptions.
IGEL OS · IGEL Technology
A Linux-based thin client operating system, managed centrally through IGEL UMS. Read-only, chain-of-trust boot, preventive security model. Microsoft lists IGEL as a Windows 365 partner. Ideal for Zero Trust endpoints, reviving old hardware and kiosk scenarios.
UniconOS (formerly eLux) · Citrix (Unicon GmbH)
A German Linux-based thin client operating system, managed centrally through UniconOS Management (formerly Scout Enterprise Management). Recommended by the BSI and widely used in public bodies and the financial sector. Built-in smartcard support, European data sovereignty.
Web browser (BYOD) · windows.cloud.microsoft
Windows 365 is reachable through the Windows cloud portal in a browser — with no client installation. Perfect for BYOD scenarios with Mac, iPad or Chromebook. The feature set is narrower than in the installed apps: in the browser there are no multiple monitors, no Teams media optimisation, no multimedia redirection and no USB or smart card redirection.
All sensible Windows 365 Enterprise combinations compared
This matrix shows the most common Windows 365 Enterprise setups in the DACH region — each with its maturity, target group and the specific difference from the base setup. Windows 365 is deliberately kept simple, so there are fewer variations than with AVD. For reliable cost calculations, current terms should be obtained directly from Microsoft and the add-on vendors.
| Setup | Modules native | Target group | What changes compared with “Windows 365 Enterprise on its own” |
|---|---|---|---|
| W365 Enterprise purA pure Cloud PC setup with Intune | 7 / 12 | Standard knowledge workers, fully remote or hybrid, Microsoft 365 first | Baseline reference. Simplest deployment, but no Linux, no autoscaling, no hybrid. |
| W365 + Intune + CARecommended compliance setup | 7 / 12 | Organisations with a Zero Trust approach, regulated industries | Device Compliance, Conditional Access and configuration profiles all take full effect. Intune is included in Microsoft 365 E3/E5 anyway — no additional cost. |
| W365 + ANCHybrid network setup | 8 / 12 | Organisations with an existing on-premises estate (AD, file servers, legacy applications) | VNet integration through Azure Network Connection. Cloud PCs can reach on-premises resources via ExpressRoute or VPN. |
| W365 + NerdioEnterprise management setup | 7 / 12 | Managed service providers, multi-entity groups, large Windows 365 deployments | Cross-tenant management, Licence right-sizing (recommends cheaper editions), backup and restore, bulk provisioning. |
| W365 + AVD-HybridThe recommended DACH enterprise setup | 7 / 12 | Organisations with mixed personas (knowledge workers plus power users) | The 80/20 split: Windows 365 for 80% standard users (cost predictability), AVD for 20% power users (multi-session, GPU-intensive workloads). |
| W365 + ANC + Nerdio + IntuneThe full enterprise stack | 8 / 12 | Large regulated enterprises with Zero Trust and multi-tenancy requirements | Nearly complete coverage — multi-cloud, Linux, autoscaling and App Attach remain structurally out of reach. Everything else is production-ready. |
Windows 365 Enterprise’s strengths
- Set up in hours rather than days — entirely SaaS-like, no deep Azure knowledge needed
- A fixed price per user including compute and storage — the fluctuating compute and storage costs disappear. Outbound data is included only up to a limit: in the Microsoft Hosted Network, depending on memory, 12 GB (2 GB RAM) to 70 GB (32 GB RAM) a month, beyond which bandwidth may be restricted; with your own Azure Network Connection, outbound traffic is charged to the Azure subscription. Note: the price depends on the configuration chosen (cores, memory, storage), and the licence comes on top of the Microsoft 365 plan, which only supplies the prerequisites (Windows Enterprise, Intune, Entra ID P1)
- Native Intune management like a physical endpoint (Autopilot, compliance policies, configuration profiles)
- Watermarking GA via Intune policy, Endpoint Analytics and a DEX score out of the box
- Cloud Apps (published apps) GA since November 2025 — but they require a Windows 365 Flex licence, not Enterprise
- Dedicated Cloud PC hardware: Windows 365 Link (no local storage, no local apps, no local user with administrative rights, booting straight into the Cloud PC without a second sign-in; Microsoft publishes no list price and points to sales and resellers) and the NUC 16 for Windows 365 from Q3 2026 — both managed through Intune like any other PC
- Since autumn 2025 external partners can sign in with their own company account (B2B guest access) — though the Cloud PC licence has to be assigned to the guest account explicitly
- GPU editions (Standard, Super, Max) GA since July 2024 for CAD, design and AI workloads — joined in June 2026 by the GPU Select edition and a 32 vCPU Cloud PC size
- Ideal for Microsoft 365-first organisations that already have Intune competence
- Security without an extra product: screen capture protection (since August 2026 also for browser access), watermarking, Purview Customer Key, since June 2026 a disabled local administrator account and, since July 2026, a hardened PowerShell execution policy applied during provisioning. Windows Cloud Keyboard Input Protection encrypts keystrokes at kernel level (preview since November 2025)
- Resilience without building it yourself: cross-region disaster recovery and Disaster Recovery Plus, distribution across several Azure regions on the Microsoft hosted network (since December 2025), and recovery of Cloud PCs deprovisioned because a licence expired (GA since March 2026)
- Windows 365 Reserve has extended the product line since November 2025: short-term Cloud PC access for people who normally work on a physical PC — the fallback path when a device fails, with Autopilot device preparation since August 2026
- Agentic AI on the same platform: Windows 365 for Agents has been generally available since June 2026 and provides Cloud PCs for AI agents — Entra-joined, Intune-managed, allocated from an agent pool through a check-out/check-in model. The same identity, security and compliance model as for employee Cloud PCs, except that the user is an agent. Alongside it, Microsoft has offered AI-enabled Cloud PCs in Frontier public preview since November 2025, bringing Windows AI features such as improved search and Click to Do to the Cloud PC
Gaps & what to add
- No autoscaling — every licence always costs the same fixed price (at night and on holiday too)
- No multi-session — every user gets their own VM (higher compute cost)
- No App Attach — applications are installed into the image, delivered through Intune Win32 apps, or published as Cloud Apps (the last of which requires a Windows 365 Flex licence)
- No image build service of its own — custom images are possible, but they are built in Azure and then imported: as a managed image or, generally available since May 2026, directly from an Azure Compute Gallery. The build itself is done by an Azure tool such as Azure Image Builder; the Windows 365 documentation names no service of its own for it
- No on-premises or multi-cloud deployment (Microsoft-hosted only)
- Linux desktops for users not supported
- No FSLogix and no persistent profile containers across several VMs — structurally so
The assessment in one sentence
Windows 365 Enterprise is licensed per user and managed through Intune — ideal for Microsoft 365-first organisations with standard knowledge worker profiles. Anyone who needs power users, shift work or multi-cloud combines Windows 365 with AVD, or chooses a different platform outright.
Technical deep dive
The SaaS model among the DaaS platforms: Windows 365 Enterprise is radically simple. The administrator clicks “provision” in Intune and minutes later has a running Cloud PC. No host pool, no FSLogix, no gold image, no scaling plan. Everything is bundled SaaS-style.
Pricing as a double-edged sword: The fixed price per user (depending on edition) is predictable but inelastic. With 500 users who work only eight hours a day, you effectively pay for 24. With AVD, autoscaling ties compute consumption to actual working time; how much that saves depends on shift pattern, utilisation and session density, and can only be calculated per environment. For full-time knowledge workers the TCO comparison often favours Windows 365; for part-time or shift setups it tends to favour AVD or Windows 365 Flex.
New features 2025/2026: Cloud Apps (published apps) GA since November 2025 — built on Windows 365 Flex in shared mode, GPU editions GA since July 2024, watermarking GA via Intune policy, Flex Cloud Apps in shared mode. Added in 2026: Cloud PC settings as a policy layer of its own, Cloud PC Monitoring and Admin Insights, Autopilot device preparation, custom images from the Azure Compute Gallery, and the GPU Select edition alongside a 32 vCPU size. Microsoft invests continuously in the Windows 365 line — in particular the convergence with AVD features (application delivery, multi-tenancy, GPU) is narrowing the gap between the two products.
The typical Microsoft 80/20 split: In DACH practice, hybrid setups are common: Windows 365 Enterprise for 80% of knowledge workers (predictable costs, simple management), AVD with Nerdio for 20% of power users (GPU, multi-session, custom scripting). That combination maximises cost efficiency while still meeting complex requirements.
Which Windows 365 Enterprise configuration fits your organisation?
The feature set is one side of the coin — the fit with personas, compliance and the existing IT estate is the other. Compare directly in DaaS Maps, or discuss it on LinkedIn.
The terminology behind Windows 365 Enterprise.
Cloud PC, Intune, Entra ID — assessing the feature set means knowing the terms behind it. Each one is explained in a few sentences in the glossary.
Trademarks: Microsoft®, Windows 365®, Azure Virtual Desktop®, Intune® · Nerdio® — and all other product and company names mentioned are registered trademarks of their respective owners and are named here solely for factual comparison, as nominative use.